Stealth Shuffle at the NYPD

January 16, 2006

It's not easy to dump a top chief in the New York
City Police Department. The culture of The Job holds that if the boss
doesn't want you, you resign. If you don't resign, the boss can figure
out a way to get rid of you by making it as uncomfortable as possible.

But that's not always true. If you don't fall for
that — if you don't swallow your gun, as they say — the boss
has no recourse but to let you stay.

Now add a police commissioner who disdains his top
brass and you begin to understand what's been afoot at One Police Plaza
for the past couple of weeks.

First, it was rumored that Police Commissioner Ray
Kelly wanted to transfer Chief of Detectives George Brown and replace
him with Brown's executive officer, Kelly's longtime friend, Assistant
Chief Robert Giannelli.

It was also rumored that Kelly wanted to remove two
others, Chief of Transportation Mike Scagnelli and Chief of Department
Joe Esposito.

Let's begin with Brown. Just why Kelly wanted him
out is unclear.

A lawyer like Kelly, Brown is considered a-political.
Nonetheless, some in the department maintain his appointment in 2003 was
abetted by city hall. More recently under him, the homicide clearance
rate — the percentage of solved homicides that has long been the
pride of the department — has fallen.

Yet Brown is a tough bird. A decade ago as the borough
commander of Brooklyn South, Brown ran into trouble with former mayor
Rudolph Giuliani because he granted no favors to Hasidic Jews. When the
Hasidics protested his even-handedness to city hall, then police commissioner
Howard Safir transferred Brown to headquarters. Brown sucked it up, kept
his mouth shut and never considered retiring. Safir eventually promoted
him to the three-star rank he currently holds.

.Fast-forward to earlier this month. When Kelly told
Brown he wanted him to take a newly created position, Brown balked. According
to Rocco Parascandola's report in last Wednesday's Newsday, which
was confirmed by top and former top brass, Brown told Kelly he'd rather
retire than accept what he considered a demotion to a less prestigious
position.

People both inside and outside the NYPD rarely disagree
with Ray Kelly. A former top police official says: "We go into his office
feeling that if we are not prepared to say, 'Yes, sir, yes sir,' you better
not go in. Safir was a pain in the ass, but even I had the ability to
tell him when he was wrong. You can't do that with Kelly."

Said another former top police official: "For once,
somebody stood up to him. I could kiss George for it."

And what was Kelly's reaction? Said that official:
"Kelly is all about image. He doesn't want to be perceived as throwing
anyone overboard."

Brown's transfer was cancelled.

Now let's turn to Scagnelli, who is a different story.
Like Brown, he had tangled with Giuliani and Safir. Most notably, he found
himself in hot water at a Yankee parade after a Giuliani bodyguard prevented
him from escorting a group of widows and orphans into an area reserved
for special guests.

After Safir's spokeswoman publicly accused him of
the crime of "hobnobbing," Scagnelli spent the remaining Giuliani years
holed up in a side office of Bill Allee, Brown's predecessor as Chief
of Detectives. Like Brown, Scagnelli never considered retiring.

More
recently under Kelly, as last month's transit strike loomed, Scagnelli
refused to cancel a hunting trip, said to have been planned months in
advance. He returned to headquarters hours before the strike began.

Last week, Kelly announced that two bureaus Scagnelli
supervised would be taken from him. The most important, Transit. Kelly
told the New York Times last week that transit officers would now report
directly to Esposito to increase the department's "supervision of our
counter-terrorism operation in the subways."

What having transit cops report directly to the Chief
of Department would accomplish was not disclosed.

Finally, there is Esposito. He has served as Chief
of Department – the NYPD's highest uniformed position – under
both Kelly and his predecessor, Bernard Kerik, and he is regarded highly
by both the top brass and the rank and file. With Kelly surrounded by
civilian advisers and focused on terrorism, he is said to be the glue
that holds the department together.

Yet Kelly disdains him, as he does his other top
chiefs. One only has to attend a news conference to see this. Kelly takes
center stage and does all the talking. The officials who flank him, Esposito
included, are props. At one news conference Kelly introduced all those
around him, but forgot Esposito.

A chief speculated that by asking Brown to take a
newly created position, Kelly was signaling a loss of responsibility for
Esposito. But with Brown's refusal to accept that, the rumors ended. Now,
like Brown, Esposito isn't going anywhere.

The Ban[Con't]After having been turned away the previous
week, Your Humble Servant was permitted to enter One Police Plaza last
week.

Chris Dunn of the Civil Liberties Union had informed
police department lawyers of my intention to attend a departmental trial
on the 4th floor, which is open to the public. Security staffs at the
metal detector outside the building and at the sign-in desk on the first
floor of Police Plaza were alerted of my impending arrival.

It is not clear why the department fears me. Again,
I want to assure all readers that I am neither a convicted felon [who
by the way are permitted inside the building if cleared through the metal
detector] nor a terrorist.

In an era of declining resources, I was given a minder,
a full-time police escort, reminiscent of the era of Saddam Hussein or
Joseph Stalin. My minder, a police officer Rodriquez, said he had instructions
to accompany me to the fourth floor and remain with me. He was polite
and helpful and even allowed me to make two calls from my cell phone.
However, he would not permit me, as I left, to stop down on the second
floor to visit my former police reporter colleagues. Instead, as per his
instructions, Officer Rodriquez escorted me back down the elevator and
out of the building.